Device for applying coatings to wires



Dec. 14, 1937. w, H, C NVERS 2,102,059

DEVICE FOR APPLYING COATINGS TO WIRES Filed Dec. 51, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l v INVENTOR; Wflbu' )L Convers.

A TTORNE Y5 be divided 'ried back to the stock tank or sump.

Patented 'Dec.14 1937 I r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Wilber 1!. Convert, Pouglikeeplie, N. Y., aslignor to James K. Delano Rye, N. Y.

Application December 81, 1930, Serial No. 505,705

' 6 Claims. (ot- 91-51) This invention relates to a coating appliance of that class employed in applying a coating of insulatingmaterial or a'solution of the same to a wire or the like, and is an improvement over the invention shown and described in my application, Serial No. 486,313, filed October 4, 1930, In the coating of wire at. high speeds in devices of this character it has been found that the excess coating material must not only be removed from the wire before drying, but that when the coating device is thus operated "the coating material is apt to be thrown from the transfer drums by centrifugal force. One of the objects of the, present invention is to prevent this from taking place. The coating drums may into a series of narrow faced rollers, one for each wire, whereby thefriction is reduced. l

Also by this invention excessive evaporation of .the solution is prevented and the excess coating mate that is applied to the wires is car- Also by this invention separate compartments may be provided for rollers for removing excess coating material and a low level of coating material is maintained in these compartments while the level inthe tank or sump is somewhat higher.

4 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the same, partly broken away.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view, part- 1:! broken away, taken along theline 6-6 of In the drawings, reference character l0 indicates a box shaped tank that is provided with an inlet feed pipe H from a suitable supply of coating material or a solutionof it. The tank In is also provided with an overflow pipe i2 and is mountedupon a support it which inturn is adiustably mounted on a'main support M by the threaded supports l5 and nuts It in such a man,-

- her that thetenk ll) maybe given a slight incline so'that the solution will drain to one end.

The tank I!) is also provided with a cover plate 1", while the ends are formed with a series or slots I 8 and holes l9 through which the wires 2D One set of solution applying rollers 2! and two sets of excess material removing rollers 22 are shown, but it is to be understood that as many sets of the removing rollers may be used as are desired. e These rollers. 21 and 22 are narrow cylinders and are secured in sets side by side spaced apart on the three transverse shafts 28, 24 and 25 which are rotatably mounted in the side walls of the tank ill with their ends extending through one side thereof. The gears 28,21 and 28 on the shafts 28, 24 and 25 are in mesh with theidler gears 28 mounted on stud shafts 30, so that the shafts 23, 24 and 25 rotate in thesame direction. The shaft 24 is extended beyond the side of the tank Ill opposite the gear 21 and-has secured thereon a bevel gear Si in mesh with and driven by a bevel gear 32 secured on a shaft 33 mounted in the bracket M secured to the tank It and driven in any convenient way; The trains of gears may be covered by a casing 35 securedto the side-of the tank it.

The rollers M on the shaft 23 are spaced apart distances equal to the center to center distances of the holes id in the end of the tank It. These rollers 2i rotate directly in the solution contained in the it. The level of solution in the tank it is governed by the height of the outlet or overflow pipe it The amount of solution carried up to the wires 20 by these rollers 2| is regulated by a series oi shields 36 mounted at the end of the tank ill adjacent the rollers 2i and formed with notches t'i which allow a certain amount of the solution to be carried up by each roller 2i to envelop the wires 20.

A transverse rod 38 rests upon the wires 20 to cause a large amount of coating material to be keptat this point through which the wires are drawn, thus proc full immersion of the wires in the coating liquid. The rollers 2| are driven fast enough to bring up enough coating material to flood the wires 20. The ends of the rod 38 are in the guides at and this rod is prevented from turning by a pin 39'. v

An excess coating remover Ml formed of a container. It has its upper edge slightly curved against the direction of wire travel and is placed just below the wires 20, but not in contact with them. The wires traveling at high speed carry such an amount of coating material that unless the remover 40. is used more rollers 22 for removing excess material would be required to prepiece of metal is placed transversely across the vent the wires from being overloaded and an irer 22. Each of these chambers 4| is formed with an inlet hole 42 communicating with themain tank ill.

This scraper 40 traps the excess and removes a large percentage of the surplus. 1

The series of rollers 22 on the shafts 24 and 25 are also spaced apart to conform to the lines of travel of the wires 20. Each of these excess removing rollers dips into a separate chamber or container 4| in the tank l0, one for each roll- Each one of the rollers 22 is provided with a separate brush or scraper 43 .mounted on the upper end of an arm or scraper holder 44 which is hinged to a chamber 4| as at 45 and held in contact with the face. of the rollers 22 by a spring 46. These scrapers may be of any suitable materiaL. The springs 46 are held in place by screws 41.

These scrapers 43 are wider than the faces of the rollers 22 and as the rollers 22 rotate and carry up the solution from the chambers 4| these scrapers 43 remove the excess material.

Curved plates 48, each as wide as the scrapers 43, are attached to the holders 44 to provide pockets just below the points of contact of the brushes 43 with the wires 20 and to the left of the plates 46 as seen in Fig. 4. The most of the coating material that is removed from the rollers 22 by the brushes 43 passes over the plates 43 back into the tank Hi. This prevents the coating material from accumulating below the scrapers 43 in such a manner that it might accumulate on the sides of the rollers 22 and interfere with removal of material from the wires by these rollers.

As the rollers 22,dip only slightly into the solution and remove it from the chambers 4| and the amount of solution admitted to these cham-' hers is governed by the sizes of the inlet holes 42 in the sides thereof the level of solution in these chambers will remain at a lower level than the level of the solution in the main tank N; The rollers 22 will be .kept moistened with only a very small amount of the solution and as they contact with the wires 23 they remove the excess that may remain after having been coated by the rollers 2| and the main portion of the excess removed by the remover 40, so that an even thickness of coating remains on the wires 20.

The tank In is mounted between the oven '0 and a series of guide wheels 5| over which the wires 20 are carried in any convenient way, as, for example, by being wound upon reels (not shown). In coating devices of this type the supply spools from which the wire is drawn for coating is, in larger size of wire sometimes rotated in the plane of its axis to give the wire a twisting motion as it receives the several coats as it goes through the coating device several times. The wire has different surfaces on the bottom side during successive coatings, thus making for even coating around the outside of the wire. This can easily be done by rotating the holders of the spools slowly as the wire is, taken off.

For preventing evaporation of the solution a shield 52 is provided which rests on the lugs 53 By this invention a variety ofdifierent sorts of coatings can be applied to wires in a very rapid and satisfactory manner. The wires may be heated in the oven 50 to the proper temperature to bake the coating composition on the wire or cause resiniflcation of the ingredients in situ when the ingredients of the coating composition are of the sort that will permit this. After the heating operation, the wires may be passed through again to receive an additional coating in the same way and so on for as many times as may be desired, thus applying a plurality of even smooth coatings of-uniform thicknesses.

The speed of application is very rapid as the wires may be passed through at a rate of 500 feet per minute or more.

The rollers 22 are driven at such a speed that their peripheries have a speed slightly different from the speed of the wires 20 and they dip only slightly into the coating material or solution in the chambers 4|. As the pumping action of the rollers 22 and the cleaning action of the brushes 43 remove the liquid faster than the openings 42 can replenish it, the levels in these chambers 4|, where the device is running, is automatically held at such a point that Just enough solution is left to mix with the coating taken from the wires and returned to the sump by the scraper brushes 43, where it is mixed with the main body of the solution by the action of the applying rollers 2|, thus insuring constant viscosity. Also the continuous flow of fresh solution into the chambers 4| is promoted by the pumping out action, so that no settling or jellying action can take place which would cause trouble in producing an even coating.

Instead of having a separate chamber 4| for each roller 22, a single chamber may be provided for these rollers, or a chamber may be provided for each set or groups of such rollers. The supply and return pipes II and I2 may also be so located that a continuous mixing action is provided by circulation of the liquid through these pipes. I claim:

1. In a coating device, a reel for wire, a chamber for the wire through which the wire is moved longitudinally, said chamber comprising a container and means for supplying coating material thereto, a coating applying roller in said container in contact with said wire, a roller for removing excess coating from said wire having a greater peripheral speed than the speed of said wire, and means comprising a restricted inlet for causing said last-named roller to dip into said coating material to a less depth than said first-named roller.

2. In a coating device, a reel for wire, a chamber for the wire through which the wire is moved longitudinally, said chamber comprising a container and 'means for supplying coating material thereto, a coating applying roller in said container in contact with said wire and a nonrotatable member above said roller contacting with said. wire.

3. A coating device for wire through which the wire is moved longitudinally, comprising a container and means for supplying coating material tainer in contact with said .wire, a roller for removing excess coating from said wire having a greater peripheral speed than the speed of said wire, and means for maintaining a lower level of said material at said second-named roller than at said first-named roller. I

4. In a coating device, a reel for wire, a chamber for the wire through which the wire is moved longitudinally, said chamber comprising a container and means for supplying coating material thereto, a coating applying roller in said con- 65 thereto, means for applying said coating material to said wire at one point, a roller in said container in contact with said wire for removing excess coating material from said wire, said roller having coating material applied to its facelat one point, and means for removing the major portion of said material from the face of said roller before it contacts with said wire,

said means comprising a scraper and a plate spaced from said roller and said scraper.

5. In a device for coating wire, a container for coating'material, a roller dipping into the coating material in said container, means for passing i .said wire into contact with said roller, and

material from the lower side of said wire, said'm last named means comprising a roller, a scraper and a plate wider than the length of said roller.

WILBER H. coNvERs, f v 

